AN ARMY Major was put through his paces with pirouettes as part of a ballet class.

Maj David Wilson, a physiotherapist with the Royal Army Medical Corps, joined a group of Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers in the class at their studios in the Birmingham Hippodrome complex.

He donned his ballet pumps to jump, spin and point his toes under the watchful eye of ballet master Dominic Antonucci.

And it was all in a good cause as 34-year-old Maj Wilson is aiming to raise funds to help send a friend for life-saving cancer treatment.

Mum-of-two Nicola Vaux, aged 36, was diagnosed with bowel cancer last year but the condition has progressed to her liver. There is specialist treatment available in London – but at a cost of £200,000. Now friends and family have set up a website and are undertaking challenges and organising events to raise the money.

David, who is based near Salisbury, said the class was a lot more difficult than he had anticipated.

“These guys have to be phenomenally strong to hold those positions,” he said. “And you don’t realise how high they have to jump in order to make all those turns.”

And David, who trained in physiotherapy with Nicola at Brighton University, added: “I don’t think this will be my new hobby but I am very grateful to them for letting me join the class.”

His efforts were praised by Dominic Antonucci, who was a BRB principal before taking the role of ballet master.

“He did really well,” said Dominic. “He is quite fit already and is actually quite co-ordinated. But a ballet class is something quite different from other types of exercise.”

Nicola, of Leamington Spa, who is married to 33-year-old pilot Duncan and mum to four-year-old Millie and two-year-old William, was also impressed by her friend’s efforts.

“David is the kind of person who will try anything and we were all impressed at how well he did,” she said.